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“Gambling” Bucs Paying Price In Secondary

Is it possible the dude on the right is wearing a custom made Daniel Te’o Nesheim jersey? Nahhh.

The leader of the New Schiano Order loves to talk about his “TFLs,” those tackles for loss that make Greg Schiano eek out a small grin week after week after week.

The Bucs are studs in that category and racked up another eight tackles for loss yesterday in the beat down of the Chargers.

Former Bucs tight end and current radio analyst Dave Moore says the Bucs’ “gambling style” drives the crazy fact that the Bucs are tops in the NFL against the run but get gouged in the secondary, where Tampa Bay checks in with the league’s most yards allowed through the air.

“That’s why the lead the league in tackles for a loss because they do take chances,” Moore said on WDAE-AM 620 today, referring to blitzes and the team having a run-stop-first mentality.

As for the seemingly easy turkey-carving performed by Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers yesterday, well, Moore said he’d have to review film again but it’s likely on Mason Foster more than the secondary.

“Mason Foster delayed on that fake run which gave Bates the ability to get behind him down the middle of the field,” Moore said.

Per Joe’s game notes, Foster biting a bit downhill and not doing the Barrett Ruud retreat (something Ruud did well) cost the Bucs at least twice. However, Joe will take the consequences of having Foster and the rest of the linebackers gambling downhill. The odds are in the Bucs’ favor if they continue to wreak havoc in the backfield and at the line of scrimmage on first and second downs.

It’s a refreshing change, and as long as the Bucs still show the ability to outscore teams, they should keep rolling.

18 Responses to ““Gambling” Bucs Paying Price In Secondary”

While I do agree with this article, it is a different story what is really happening to us. We will have them in predictable situations like 3rd and long or 2nd and long, and we cannot stop the pass still, even when we know its coming. Not only can we not stop the pass when we know its coming, but the stunts and twist that we do up front prevents us from even pressuring the quarterback. I think the defensive coordinator should be put under more heat than he has been. We have kept our opponents in 3rd and long scenarios, and still are last in the league against the pass. It just doesn’t make sense!

The problem is that the Bucs continue to blitz on 3rd and long rather than drop 8 guys. The times I see us drop 8 and rush 3 on 3rd down we have been fairly effective. The times I see us blitz on 3rd down, we usually get gashed.

Run blitz on predictable running downs, but otherwise make them work for it Bucs on the long downs. The blitzes and stunts are not working on those situations.

I completely disagree. I have seen few times where rushing only 3 worked this year. I hate it. Our secondary is not good enough to cover when the QB is given that much time to wait for receivers to find a crease.

Getting carved up by elite QBs comes from our lack of any real pressure forcing them off their marks which allows them to sit back in the pocket and knit a sweater while their receivers find an opening, even an elite CB can only cover someone for so long, we are really missing that consistant pressure that Clayborn is able to bring off the right side, hopefully we keep it going winning the we can put up 35 pts what can you do game until next season.

though this aggressive, in your face, stack the line, style of defense was driving me crazy at the beginning of the season, it has really kind of grown on me. if we can get these corners to play within these scheme effectively, we are going to have a damn good defense.

Totally agree. Whenever I watch games with my brother, I always say, “Great, 3rd and 11 – the only down I really fear.”

I would wager that we are top three, if not numero uno, in the league in percentages of first downs given up on third and long. And that is profoundly disturbing (and likely as much, if not more, due to coaching and scheme as to the talent on the field).

Joe It’s Mason he has been playing terrible since you started with that pineapple shhhh. In the raider game he looked to slow to stop the sweep by mcfadden. This game the sweep play got Foster again.

Why didnt our most experienced backer take over at the mike a year ago when we got Mason?..(Quincy Black) Why keep drafting lb’s and not give Dekoda a shot?

Last year shooda cooda wooda…but Quincy shooda play middle Geno shooda played his normal spot and Dekoda shooda played Sam. Raheem threw Mason in the fire with his sorry tampa 2.0. Foster probably don’t want to be in the middle. In college he was shifting back and forth. Im a film junky too..I agree with Dave!

SacBucs, really? You think Foster looks slower than last year? I disagree. He has been beat at times, but even the great 55 was beat here and there. Foster is having a pretty solid year, as are the rst of the LBers.

I think the issue right now with Tampa bay fans is we are not used to having a defense that is not very good, and we sure as hell are not used to having a high powered offense. It is funny, if the Saints or NE are on a three game winning streak, there fans are happy…when the Bucs are on one, people complain about the spotty pass defense. I am fine with out-scoring the other team. I want great defense too, but you cannot deny how fun this year’s games have been.

I think our def philosophy has to be much the same as the Packers, when they won the super bowl n they SUCKED against the pass!!! One thing I see that is the same with both def. is that they force turnovers and while we have a great offense it is not where the packers were that year but we are not that far off an we have a much better running game then the pack did. The pack got more pressure from their front four Ala Clay Matthews but had to bring pressure with multiple blitz n got burned one on one. but got Ints eventually…. Guess we are going with the notion the more we make the qb pass the more likely he will be to make a mistake like Rivers like Palmer… even Eli did before he caught fireeee in the 4th….

Stop with the “horrible pass D” talk already. Seriously, I could care less how many yards they give up, it’s points that matter. Overall, the team has allowed 209 points (16th in the NFL, Avg. is 208.8). We’ve allowed 16 passing TDs (21st in the NFL not 32nd) and have the 3rd MOST INts in the NFL. Factoring everything in, we’re about the 18th ranked pass D, and 11th overall D in the NFL.

Beyond that, the Giants last year won the Super Bowl as the 29th ranked pass D (in yards allowed), the 25th defense in points allowed, 27th in total yards allowed, and an offense that had the 8th most yards and 9th most points in the NFL. We’re actually ahead of them statistically in everything except passing yards allowed. The Saints were the 20th in points allowed, 25th in yards allowed, and 26th in pass yards allowed when they won.

Do you understand yet that it’s more about points than yards, but even then it also includes turnovers, and most importantly timing… The stars must align for the Bucs to win the Super Bowl, the Division, anything else…. Is this the year? I have no clue, and I’m glad I don’t, it makes the games so much more fun to watch when you don’t know the outcome before you see it.

Moore’s explanation doesn’t explain why on 3rd and 10+ the Bucs have been so terrible. On the 3rd and 11, 81 yard TD to Alexander I had just exclaimed, “Oh crap, 3rd and long, we’re terrible in these situations,” and then we gave up the big play. Between Sheridan bringing the house in those situations and rushing only three, the Bucs have been terrible. I actually prefer seeing 3rd and 4 over 3rd and 10+ at this point. It seems we are far better at defending the short pass than the deep ones. It seems when we get turnovers, it is when we finally show blitz and drop out of it, it is because the QB and WRs read blitz and zero coverage and we drop into cover 2 like when Black intercepted Carson Palmer last week. We need to do more of that instead of showing blitz and then blitzing or showing a 3 man rush and then only rushing 3. Deception is the name of the game and when we do that we are decent, but when we show our play pre-snap we tend to get scorched.

At least we’re not getting gashed by the run like the year prior. Much better chance of getting a win with a team unable to run. many more TO opportunities and chances for big plays ,as a sack/fumble when a team totally abandons the run. There is a method to the madness of the Bucs D. Yes, it it maddening sometimes, BUT I can see the reasoning, especially when you factor in the talent or lack of it, in the secondary.

@SacBucs that was the stupidest post on this website of all year. Last year was the year people questioned Mason. He has improved his game so much from where he was last year. He is one of the most improved players on this team, finally looking comfortable. Last year Darren Sproles made me think Mason wasn’t a 3 down linebacker, but last year was last year. Lets give the players a clean slate. Besides Biggers, he doesn’t deserve one, we know he can’t cover anything